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Welsh Government may finance MotoGP circuit

WELSH Government officials are in financial talks with a racetrack project promising to bring MotoGP to Blaenau Gwent, it has been confirmed.

The talks could see the Welsh Government provide a loan to the Heads of the Valleys Development Company - the organisation behind the Circuit of Wales project, Rassau.

Officials say the loan would allow the project to proceed to a stage where it could attract private investment.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The Welsh Government has agreed to enter into detailed discussions with the Heads of the Valleys Development Company to explore in principle the terms and conditions of a commercial loan that would allow the project to proceed to a stage where significant commercial funding could be attracted.”

It isn’t known how much might be on the table but previous reports suggested the organisation had asked for £30 million.

A Circuit of Wales spokesman yesterday provided no comment on the story.

The Welsh Government had already previously provided a £2 million grant to the scheme.

The Argus reported last month that officials from the project said they were still in commercial discussions with Dorna, the private company in charge of the MotoGP championship.

They had indicated that results of those talks, which could see MotoGP coming to the racetrack in 2016 if successful, should be revealed in the next few months.

Developers are also facing concerns over their plan to swap common land at the Rassau site.

The project would use 600 acres of common land with developers aiming to register another 800 acres as common land in exchange.

The matter would need to be adjudicated by the planning inspector who could decide to hold a public inquiry over the issue.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society which is opposed to the application, previously told the Argus that jobs needed to be provided in the right places without wrecking the environment.

However the developers have said that a balance needs to be found between job opportunities and common land.